The Dirt - Lisianthus In The Winter. Say What!?

Dos Gringos

№ 263

Lisianthus In The Winter. Say What!?~

A: Well, for the last couple of years we’ve been trialing Lissie in our wintertime sunflower fields.

Q:How did that come about?

A: When we are looking for other items to plant we always start with what’snative to the particular area because every time we’ve gone up against MotherNature she always wins. So it turns out that Lisianthus is native to NorthernMexico and Texas and does best in a dry climate close to water.

Q:And?

A: AND our main growing region in the winter just happens to be in NorthernMexico, in a dry climate, and very close to the Sea of Cortez. Boom.

Q:Cool. Can you tell us about the growing cycle?

A: Of course…Probably best to do it in picture form…Here you go…

We plant the Lisianthus seed in trays to create plugs.The seeds spend 2 months in trays under lights in germination trays.

Then we do a direct transplant into hoop houses where they spend2-3 months growing. In the winter we need to make sure thatthey have at least 12 hours of sunlight so we supplementthe short days with our own lighting.